Steven Kruijswijk lost time in the eighth stage of the Vuelta, but the feeling slowly improved.

On the climb of the Xorret de Cati, the Team LottoNL-Jumbo-rider could not follow the group of favourites.

"I still could not join them”, he says. "I kept that in mind beforehand. Because of the cold I've been suffering from lately, I pulled myself apart every day to follow along for as long as possible. During the restday on Monday I hope to be able to recover fully. And then we are going to look ahead."

Sports director Grischa Niermann concluded the same as his team leader. "The damage seems limited. We accompanied him to the bottom of the last climb, as planned. We keep hoping he'll get through this", said Niermann.

Before the final climb broke the peloton, the stage was coloured by a large breakaway. For Team LottoNL-Jumbo, Daan Olivier participated, just like two days ago. Afterwards, Niermann complimented the 24-year-old Dutchman. "It's good what he showed today. Certainly because he has been out of the running for a long time. Daan has only been in competition for four months and it’s going the right way. What he showed today is of a good level", said the sports director.